Dalkeith Library

Duddingston Loch

Duddingston Village · 4.3 miles

A freshwater loch of roughly eight hectares lies on the southern edge of Holyrood Park, just south of Arthur’s Seat and a short walk from the village of Duddingston. It is one of the last two natural lochs remaining within the city limits of Edinburgh, the other being Lochend Loch, and the only natural water body among the three lochs in the park. The loch’s history stretches back to the Bronze Age, when a hoard of swords, spears and other artefacts was deliberately deposited in its waters. The items lay undisturbed until a dredger recovered them in 1778; they are now displayed in the Early People gallery at the National Museum of Scotland. The scene of Henry Raeburn’s painting *The Skating Minister* was once a popular ice-skating venue, and the loch also hosted early curling activity. Records of curling date from at least 1761, with the Duddingston Curling Society formally established in 1795. William Henry Playfair’s Thomson’s Tower, built in 1824, still stands on the north side of the loch, marking the sport’s historic presence. Designated a bird sanctuary since 1925, the loch supports the most extensive common reed bed in the Lothians and a wildlife reserve at Bawsinch managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Mammals such as otter, hedgehog and water vole are regularly observed, while the western end hosts the region’s largest heronry, recorded with 27 nests in 2017. Anglers may obtain free coarse-fishing permits from the Holyrood Park Ranger Service, though fishing is restricted to the north shore and all catches must be released. Species commonly targeted include carp, perch, roach and pike.

Cairn for Margaret Hall

Meadowbank · 5.6 miles

This cairn commemorates an event on 17 October 1720 when Nicol Muschat, a surgeon, dragged his wife to a nearby spot and brutally murdered her. He was eventually tried and hanged for this crime. At his trial he said that he had simply tired of her.

Palace of Holyroodhouse

Holyrood · 5.6 miles

A royal residence at the foot of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, opposite the city’s iconic castle, serves as the official Scottish home of the United Kingdom monarch. The palace borders the historic Holyrood Abbey and its grounds lie within Holyrood Park, offering visitors access to the State Apartments, the 16th-century chambers once used by Mary, Queen of Scots, and the King’s Gallery, which since 2002 displays works from the Royal Collection. Opening times are published on the palace’s listing, and the site remains a venue for state occasions, official entertaining and, each summer, a week of residence by the reigning monarch. The complex originated alongside the abbey founded in 1128 by King David I, a site that hosted medieval parliaments and the 1328 Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton. A Gothic palace was erected by James IV between 1501 and 1505, forming a quadrangle that included a chapel, great hall and royal apartments. James V’s additions from 1528 to 1536 introduced the surviving tower that now bears his name. The building suffered damage during the English assaults of the 1540s, after which Mary of Guise oversaw repairs. Following the Reformation, the abbey fell into partial ruin while the palace continued as a royal dwelling. Today, the historic apartments and state rooms are open to the public except when members of the royal family are in residence, and the palace also hosts the Lord High Commissioner during the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

National Museum of Scotland

Old Town · 6.2 miles

The National Museum of Scotland occupies two adjoining buildings on Chambers Street, beside the George IV Bridge in Edinburgh’s central area, close to the Old Town. Admission is free and the site is step-free, with on-site toilets and publicly listed opening hours. Visitors can reach the museum on foot from the city centre or by local bus routes that stop nearby. Formed in 2006, the museum combines the modern Museum of Scotland, opened in 1998, with the historic Royal Scottish Museum, whose construction began in 1861 and partially opened in 1866. The older block features a Victorian Venetian Renaissance façade and a cast-iron central hall that rises the full height of the structure; a major refurbishment completed in 2011 restored and extended the space. The institution brings together the national collections of Scottish antiquities, medieval artefacts and a broad international programme covering geology, natural history, science, technology and world cultures. Among the displays are the cloned sheep Dolly, an Egyptian gallery, a collection of Sir Elton John’s stage costumes, the Jean Muir fashion archive and a kinetic piece called the Millennium Clock. A Scottish invention, the early beheading device known as the Scottish Maiden, also appears. The museum’s galleries, refreshed in 2011, showcase roughly 8 000 objects, most of which had not been exhibited before. In 2025 the attraction recorded over two million visitors, confirming its status as a heavily frequented cultural venue.

John Knox House

Canongate · 6.2 miles

A 15th-century townhouse standing on the historic High Street of Edinburgh’s Canongate draws interest for its well-preserved interiors and the layers of civic history embedded in its walls. Constructed from 1470, the house features a fine wooden gallery and a hand-painted ceiling. Its early owners included Walter Reidpath, whose grandson John Arres passed the property to his daughter Mariota Arres in 1556; she married the goldsmith James Mosman, whose family were involved in refashioning the Scottish crown for James V and later in the valuation of Mary, Queen of Scots’ jewels during the Lang Siege. After Mosman’s execution for counterfeiting in 1573, the house was forfeited and granted in the name of James VI to James Carmichael. Carvings uncovered behind later woodwork in 1849 were restored by Alexander Handyside Ritchie the following year, and a further restoration took place in 1984. Today the building functions as a museum, owned by the Church of Scotland and administered together with the adjacent Scottish Storytelling Centre. The house’s popular identification with Protestant reformer John Knox stems from a 19th-century tradition that linked the reformer to the site, though contemporary research finds no definitive proof of his residence there. A visitor’s pamphlet notes that Knox may have occupied the house for a few months during the siege of Edinburgh Castle and possibly died within its walls, while a plaque in Warriston Close marks the location of his confirmed dwelling. The building was threatened with demolition in 1849 but was saved through the intervention of Lord Cockburn. Admission to the museum requires a charge, and the nearby Fountain Well, a 1675 public cistern rebuilt most recently in 1997, adds an additional point of historic interest.

Greyfriars Kirk

Old Town · 6.2 miles

Greyfriars Kirk stands in Edinburgh’s historic Old Town, set against the backdrop of the adjoining Greyfriars Kirkyard. The parish church of the Church of Scotland occupies a site once granted to a mid-15th-century Franciscan community, whose former friary was repurposed after the Reformation as a burial ground and the location for the present building, erected between 1602 and 1620. The interior presents an eight-bay aisled nave that blends Survival Gothic with Baroque touches; a later addition by Alexander McGill introduced a Palladian north porch after the 1718 explosion that destroyed the original tower. Notable interior elements include stained-glass windows by James Ballantine, a 17th-century monument to Margaret, Lady Yester, and an original copy of the National Covenant signed in 1638. The church’s history records use as Cromwellian barracks, a fire in 1845 that led to the first organ and stained glass in a Scottish parish since the Reformation, and a 1929 reunification of the Old and New Greyfriars congregations. Today the kirk remains active in community outreach through the Grassmarket Community Project and the Greyfriars Charteris Centre, and it maintains a weekly Gaelic service, continuing a tradition dating from the early 18th century. Visitors can reach the site on foot within the Old Town; the building offers step-free, wheelchair-friendly access. No admission fee or specific visitor facilities are detailed in the available information.